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Any Pre-Dents Thought About Pursuing Dental Hygiene Instead?


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Hey everyone, 

 

I'm just at a point where I am so burnt out from researching about dental schools, looking at stats, getting depressed because of my own stats. :(  I'm going in to my 5th year (and my last), my gpa for past few years have been just around low-mid 80's, and my dat scores are just average as well. I applied to two school last year, didn't get an interview. 

 

I will be applying again this year, but I'm now also thinking about back-up plans. One thing I know for sure is that I want to be pursuing a career that allows me to get involved in health promotion for the public.  That's why I've started looking into dental hygiene... and trying to find out more information on what that field entails.  

 

If I choose to become a dental hygienist, I envision my life as both hygienist and an educator of some sort (probably getting involved in outreach programs for health promotion in oral health).  However, I have a friend in dental hygiene... and I wasn't so inspired by such limited amount of skills that they learn and able to practice after their degree. 

 

Have any of you considered pursuing dental hygiene instead of dentistry? if so, what are your thoughts? Or have you thought of plan B because you just feel so burnt out from applying and getting rejected? 

 

any encouragements will make my soul feel better. 

 

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Hello,

 

I was a dental hygienist for 3 years.  There are some interesting opportunities for hygienists such as restorative hygienists and ortho hygienists.  

 

As well there are some who go into public health which sounds like it might be of interest to you.

Unfortunately with the amount of new private educational institutions that teach dental hygiene, dental hygienists actually make about 4-5$/hr less than what I started out making back in 2002!  That being said, from what I hear from people in the industry its not too bad finding a job.

 

Don't be too discouraged by your friend.  I have one classmate that I graduated with who is actually doing a great job running his own dental hygiene clinic!  Most are not successful but he is doing quite well with his own business.  

 

Hope that helps

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Hey cl,

 

Dental schools are sure a tough place to get into now-a-days eh... Honestly, I've thought about a dental hygienist, seems logical, but realistically a masters would be a better option. The way I look at dental hygenics is that anyone can do it straight from high school... it's like college - monkey see monkey do. NOW I don't mean that in ANY discouraging tone... ever. But that's how I "realistically" see it, there's no real critical thinking involved which is what a lot of dental schools want to see, and those are reflected in your GPA as well as the DAT. (hope no one bashes me for the dental hygienist post, that's just my view, if there are others who took this route and became a dentist, then by all means I do respect it)

 

That being said, I think this is why a LOT of people take the MSc or PhD route so that they can "mature" and develop even a stronger critical thinking skill, which is highly invaluable in dental schools. A masters/PhD degree is highly looked upon ESPECIALLY in the states (if you plan on applying there). 

 

I'm actually in the same boat as you, going into my fifth year, about to write my DAT next week... and plan on applying in June of 2015 - depending on how well my DAT goes. My back up plan is to pursue a masters, 1 or 2 year masters in case my application is rejected. I mean how SICK would that look on your business card... [NAME] B.Sc., M.Sc., DDS. That's another way I thought of pursuing a masters... it just adds more to value to your name. 

 

So for me i tried to think realistically as much as i can. Sometimes I asked myself... "Am I mature enough for dental school yet?" one of the many reasons why i chose to do a 5th year as well as to bump up my GPA

 

don't give up hope if dentistry is the field you really see yourself in, i can't emphasize that enough... you can't give up on something you love. ex. we love food... if we gave all up on it everyone would be dead :P lame joke i know. and always keep your brain busy, "what should i do next" 

 

don't get me wrong, i have moments where i want to give up and just work at McDonalds. so keep your head up and push through.

 

EDIT: remember... people have different goals, have an end point and you will surely weave your way around. i have heard of instances where people as old as 31-40 years of age that JUST got into dental school - but that could be a variety of reasons ie. family, money, change of profession, grades, health problem etc..... but they still got there

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  • 1 month later...

If you do a Masters (can even be a one-yearer), you have a GREAT chance at UofT. They love Master's students. Your GPA might not cut it as an undergrad applicant, but it would be average to better than average if you were a Masters applicant. From memory, I saw a bunch of people post on this forum last year who going into UofT with Masters and GPAs in the 3.7 range. Don't give up! :)

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